Vehicles with inflatable tires such as passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, light and heavy duty trucks, tractor trailers, buses, commercial delivery vehicles, among other motorized forms of transportation and trailers pulled by such vehicles are conventionally equipped with spare tires. Some spare tires are stored underneath the vehicle using a tire carrier which includes a tire winch for raising and lowering the spare tire between a raised or stored position wherein the vehicle can be operated and a lowered or accessed position wherein the spare tire can be installed or removed form the tire carrier. When the operator needs the spare tire, such as when there is a flat tire, the operator operates the winch to lower the spare tire from the raised position to the lowered position. In the lowered position the operator can remove the spare tire from the tire carrier. The winch typically raises and lowers the spare tire using a flexible member such as a cable or cord which is wound and unwound on a sheave or reel. The winch can be manual or power operated to rotate to rotate the sheave.
Many tire carriers provide a secondary latch mechanism or other system to secure the spare tire in the stored position upon a catastrophic event. For example, upon a catastrophic event such as a collision, the spare tire can be thrown with forces greater than the cable can withstand. If the cable fails, the secondary latch mechanism “catches” the spare tire to ensure that the spare tire remains within the confines of the vehicle.
While these prior tire carriers may adequately stow spare tires beneath motor vehicles, the secondary latch mechanism can be costly and adds weight to the vehicle. There is a never ending desire in the motor vehicle industry to reduce the cost of components and/or to reduce the weight of components. Additionally, while the tire carriers maintain the spare tire within the confines of the vehicle upon failure of the cable, the cable is permitted to fail. Replacement of the failed cable can be relatively costly. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved tire carrier assembly.